any other consortium in “similar situation of excusable delay may be processed in a similar manner so that canons of transparency, uniformity and equity are maintained”.

However, before the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led CCI could take a call on December 26 (today), the Department of Space on Tuesday relented by compressing its prohibited zone, southwest of the block.

For space

Department of space writes to petroleum ministry saying that ISRO will shift the boundary of the “prohibited zone” 7 km south to allow a consortium of Cairn India, Tata and ONGC to explore oil and gas

The consortium has stopped “effective exploration” in the last two years as department of space refused to give drilling permission as the site was within 10-km radius of Satish Dhawan Space Centre